What if I can’t….

Whatever the rest of that sentence is – win that client, close that deal, help them, hit my targets – what if you can’t?

It is often easy to think about all the reasons/excuses why we shouldn’t do something – the effort involved, fear of failure, just can’t be bothered. It is ‘easy’ to not do things. What are the consequences of not trying? Have we stopped to think about this? Do we think about it or is it simply an excuse to not try?

It is an age old response from when we are young to go ‘I can’t/couldn’t….’. Parents hear it early on from children and, the reality is, it still remains an easy excuse as we get older. Sometimes it signals we don’t have the confidence and need someone else’s reinforcement, sometimes we just want someone to watch. But the reality of saying or thinking this is it forces other people to justify why we should, rather than us.

Instead of asking or thinking what if I can’t, there are two more important questions to consider:

What are the consequences of not trying?

Nothing changes: By not trying, you are deciding that the current position is preferred – for you and your clients.

No one wins: You or your client. No one wins anything by not even entering the race – though many have been surprised by their results when they do.

You don’t learn: Growth doesn’t come from doing that which we’re already good at, it comes from stretching ourselves

You go backwards: Further to point 1, whilst ‘nothing changes’, you go backwards as, rest assured, someone else IS trying.

Client loss: Just because you decide not to try, it doesn’t mean your client will stop looking for better solutions, smarter advice, greater relationships.

Competitors glow: Those around you look better through simply exhibiting more effort, they don’t actually have to be the best, just better than you. By not trying, you’re setting the bar very low for them.

You have to try harder: Eventually. It catches up, never goes away.

You hit ‘Give Up’: However, if you do stop trying for long enough, eventually your forced to give up. Whether you like it or not.

So, not trying may actually seem like the easiest option today, but it’s often at the detriment of the future. You lose and, importantly, your clients lose. When you make a decision to not try, you tie your clients to the consequences of that decision, whether they like it or not.

So knowing what happens if we don’t try and them making a conscious decision and still not working to we’re left with one final question: